(M. Sars, 1846)

Description
Umbrella bell-shaped, about as high as wide [Bougainvillia muscoides ]. Scattered nematocysts and four perradial longitudinal furrows on exumbrella. Four radial canals. Jelly not very thick; velum very broad.
Gastric peduncle may be indicated; manubrium fairly small, cone-shaped with a quadrangular base. Mouth with four oral tentacles inserted above mouth opening, dichotomously branched 4-5 times, ending in nematocysts containing small knobs; basal trunk of tentacles short but distinct.
Gonads situated interradially on manubrium, well separated in the perradii.
Four large globular marginal tentacular bulbs each with a group of 5-7 tentacles of one kind. Without ocelli.
Development: B.muscoides.

Size
Umbrella 4-5 mm high and wide.

Colour
Young specimens with manubrium and marginal bulbs yellowish-brown to orange [see Margelis nordgaardi, synonym of B. muscoides ].

Distribution in the North Sea
Southern and northern North Sea.

World distribution
NE Atlantic Ocean.

[After Russell, 1953a; Russell, 1953b; Kramp, 1959]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Superclass Hydrozoa
Class Leptolida
Subclass Anthoathecatae
Order Filifera
Family Bougainvillidae
Genus Bougainvillia
Species Bougainvillia muscoides

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Bougainvillia muscoides (Sars, 1846)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Margelis nordgaardi | Browne, 1903 = original description of the adult medusa.
Bougainvillia nordgaardi | (Browne, 1903)

Kramp, P.L., 1959. The hydromedusae of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. Dana Report 46: 1-283; 2 plates, 335 text figures.

Russell, F.S., 1953a. The medusae of the British Isles. Anthomedusae, Leptomedusae, Limnomedusae, Trachymedusae, and Narcomedusae. Cambridge University Press, 530 pp. 319 figures, 35 plates.

Russell, F.S., 1953b. Hydromedusae. Families: Pandeidae and Tiarannidae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 51 (1953). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

Russell, F.S., 1970a. The medusae of the British Isles. II. Pelagic Scyphozoa; with a supplement to the first volume on hydromedusae. Cambridge University Press 283 pp.

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